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13/07/2014

☆ Do You Remember The Days Of Tips & Cheats? ☆ #Retrogaming #GamersUnite

In the era of 8 Bit and 16 Bit Video Games Tips, Cheats and Cheat Codes were a big deal..

This was the pre internet days and this meant you would only get to hear about cheats through your buddies at school or by reading your favourite magazine such as Mean Machines or Super PlaySome cheats were even on Teletext or Games Master

You'd open the magazine and hope that your video game was covered in the Tips and Cheats section of the magazine or maybe they'll have a map for the latest Zelda?When it was covered it was like discovering hidden treasure as you noted down the mechanics of the tip ,

"Uh ok, so it's UP, DOWN, LEFT, RIGHT, Y,B,X,A at the title screen……."

The best tips would open up some kind of Easter Egg or additional gameplay element. Of course there were always the infinite lives cheats and infinite ammo ones, but I always felt that these devalued the game that I'd piled all my pocket money into, so I tended to favour the more quirky cheats (unless I'd already completed the game of course, then it was "Bring On The Infinite Ammo!!")

Over the years there have been a whole host of great cheats that have been discovered and some are still being found today from games that were released over 20 years ago.

At one point there were hot line phone numbers into many of the various video games companies which allowed you to phone an adviser for Hints, Tips and Cheats.

Tips and cheats were big business and then there was the Game Genie for various different consoles and systems that enabled you to do all sorts of weird and wonderful things with your video games through use of Genie Codes.

I started to think about some of the best cheats that I used in some of my favourite games that have stuck with me over all these years.

So, here's my list…..can you remember any of these great cheats?

1. Street Fighter 2 - SNES - "Same Character Battles"

At the time Ken vs Ken battles were a big thing and when my friends and I discovered this cheat it meant Blue Ken vs Red Ken was possible

What To Do...Press Down, R, Up, L, Y, B when the Capcom logo appears before the title screen. The screen turns a nice shade of blue to confirm it worked. Select Vs. battle mode. Press the Start button to change the color of the character costumePress A to keep costumes identical

What To Do…Select Tranmere Rovers in team select screen and enterMr Bulgariaas your manager name to get £34m

3. NBA JAM - SNES - "Half Way Line Power Dunks"So Many games of NBA JAM 2 player were played using this cheat which made half way line slam dunks a reality…Welcome To Power Dunks!! BOOMSHAAKALAKA!!

What To Do…When you're at "Tonight's Match-Up" screenTap B on the joypad 13 times while doing a 360 on the D-pad clockwise Hold B on the thirteenth press until the tip-offYou will now be able to dunk from the Half Way Line!

4. Double Dragon - SMS - "Infinite Lives"Mention Double Dragon on the Master System to most people and they will recall this cool unlimited lives cheat that everyone at the time seemed to know. That will help you against Machine Gun W1lly!!

What To Do….On the opening screen of Level Four, before either player movesPress 1 + 2 on Master System controller Player One to perform jumping reverse kicks ten times

5. Mortal Kombat - Megadrive - "Gore"So you've bought the most controversial game of it's time and there's no gore!!! Where's it all gone?? Well this was the playground tip of the time to get that gore back into the game…..so go on then FINISH HIM!

What To Do…On the "Code of Honour" screenPress A, B, A, C, A, B, B on the joypad6. Sonic 2 - Megadrive - "Level Select"I love Sonic 2 and this cheat meant I could replay all my fave levels by selecting whichever one I so desired! Cool!What To Do…At main menu go to options Highlight the sound test and play the following sounds: 19, 65, 9, 17Press start to go back to main menu when sonic and tails show up hold A an press start7. Shinobi - SMS - "Level Select"Oh Shinobi, what a game this was on the Master System, it looked great and played just tough enough. Everyone at school would use this beauty of a cheat to get a good old level select!

What To Do...At the Title Screen with the faceHold Down and press Button 2 on the joypad You will now be able to select your mission using the d pad to rotate the numbers

8. Wonder Boy In Monsterland - SMS - "Level Select"I played this game to within an inch of its life and only found out this cheat later on it's time in my collection. A truly great Master System game with another Level Select Cheat (which were very popular at the time)

What To Do...When the level and stage numbers are displayed on screenPress 1, 1, 2, 2, 1 + 2 on the Joy pad

9. Psycho Fox - SMS - "Warp Zone"

Hidden parts of a level were always a treat in platformers of the day, they normally resulted in extra loot such as coins, lives etc

This beauty however, gave you a nice warp zone to exploit meaning you can jump to Level 4 or 5 using a pipe (Marioesque)

What To Do...Locate the jumping platforms at the end of level 1-3. Jump to the top of the screen. Near the top are three jumping platforms in a triangular arrangement. Jump off the lower right platform and punch the air. The sky will begin to open. Hit this same location until a black hole appears. Jump into the hole to enter the warp area. Slide down the steel ramp until two pipes appear. The first pipe leads to level 5-1 and the second pipe leads to level 4-1

10. Cannon Fodder - AMIGA - "Ranks"War is even more fun with this little helping hand from Jools

What To Do...Enter your name as "JOOLS" to increase your troops starting ranks